Only Temporary
by roseabellaaa
Summary: He was only there to keep Ino under control, nothing else, but little did he know the Yamanaka could be quite persuasive, and he never expected a few harmless beers would lead to this. Naruto learns that alcohol and Ino don't mix...The hard way. AU
1. Prelude

**Naruto**

Naruto was never close to Ino. To call the two blonde's "friend's" was quite an over exaggeration. The two haven't exactly bonded. The only thing Naruto knew about Ino was that she was a good friend of Sakura's, she fought with her trademark family jutsu and was a member of Team 10, well, former member, since she had given up her ninja career approximately a year ago. She didn't seem very fond of him either, the only time they seemed to speak personally, she was pointing out how he had done something wrong and how much of an idiot he was because of it.

Ino and Sakura moved into an apartment together in the city. Naruto had been asked to visit the place by a certain pink haired kunoichi. Never would he thought he'd get into a situation like this with Ino Yamanaka.

Naruto slammed the door of the taxi and began taking steps towards Sakura and Ino's apartment before his phone buzzed revealing a text from Ino Yamanaka.

* * *

 _Ino Yamanaka : _(Friday, 11:37pm) NARERT O SAKKUEA TOLD MME YO WERE COM INH TO CHEK ON ME THE ! PINK HARED FRRRE AK THINKS IM DRunk! I oonly had a lil I swer. Do u hve condomms? I neeed some lik nooooow if u get me somm we miht beee able to have some fuuuun!

* * *

Naruto could only read the last part of the message's the rest no matter how hard he analysed the text he failed to understand much of the first part. "Not drunk…? Condoms? Oh jeez." He mumbled under his breath.

It seemed Sakura was wise to send him over. Not that Ino was going to end up causing too much trouble, in her own apartment. But, Naruto assumed that Sakura just wanted him to make sure she stayed there. A blonde drunk beauty wandering the streets of a city was bound to become a victim of sexual assault. Apparently, she would've gone herself. If it weren't for the fact she was on a date, which had Naruto all the more annoyed.

Obviously the suggestion to buy condoms was out of the question. He was just outside the apartment when he got the text. Not that he would of picked them up for "a fun time" If he was given the chance. He may have been a pervert but he wasn't someone to take advantage of a drunk woman. Naruto just sighed pulling out his phone to reread at the text Sakura had given him just an hour before he had gotten there./p

* * *

 _Sakura Haruno_ : (Friday, 10: 21pm) Hey Naruto. I need a favor to ask of you if you don't mind. I know we haven't seen each other and it seems selfish that the first time talking to you after about 2 months is to request something of you, but I'd really appreciate it. I need you to come to my apartment and stay with Ino until I come back. I just left for a date and as I was leaving she seemed on the edge of being completely wasted. I'm worried and I really need you right now. You haven't been to my apartment yet but you know where the complex is, correct? Well when you get in there go to the second floor and then the third door on your left. It should read B3. Thanks!

* * *

"Alright I got it, second floor, third door to my left, B3." He recited as he was entering complex making his way to the second floor. He walked through the hall of the second floor as he examined the doors on the left side of him, and halted when he saw "B3." He took a deep breathe, it was going to be just him and Ino, and he had no idea what to expect, maybe she was less judgemental when drunk, that would at least make the situation much less awkward. Have the two even hung out with each other in private before? He sighed, trying his best to drop all the anxious thoughts from his mind, and proceeded to knock on the apartment door.

The door open almost immediately, as if she had been waiting for him, Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Ino. He hadn't seen the woman in 3 years. They had talked and text long distance (rarely), however he never got to see her in person. It didn't bother him like said earlier, he never knew her well. He really casually met up with all his close friends, like Shikamaru, Sakura or Gaara. Naruto almost forgot how beautiful Ino was, maybe that's why she had left the leaf to pursue a modelling career.

He always remembered her putting her hair into a ponytail he hasn't seen her without one in years. However now her hair appeared down her blonde locks fell elegantly on her shoulders. Her hair looked shorter then he remembered, originally her hair could reach her waist but now it just stop at her chest, but she still kept the long side bang that hid the right side of her face. For a model, she wasn't in anything very "designer" as she would probably put it, she wore casual clothes a long sleeved black shirt with a basic silver necklace and blue skinny jeans. Naruto could visibly see the dark bags under her eyes, she looked…tired…Beat up almost, Narutos sky blue hues were clouded with his concern for the former ninja.

Ino gave Naruto a drunken smirk, leaning her body against the door frame. "Welcome…!" She slurred, putting a piece of hair behind her ear before grasping onto Naruto's hand, guiding the young man inside. Naruto bared an bewildered expression as she let go of his hand and requested he sit on one of the brown couches as she went into the kitchen, grabbing a wine glass and pouring some wine into it.

Naruto looked around the room, the wallpaper was a simple pale cream colour and the apartment was very open concept. The television sitting in front of the blonde man was sitting on a brown coffee table, which was put against the back of the counter from the kitchen. The floor of the living room was grey carpet and the floor of the kitchen were simple white tiles. Other than the furniture difference, the differing floors made you able to see where the living room ended and the kitchen began. There was a average sized space to his left side, leading to three doors beside each other yet a fair space apart. He assumed the doors lead to the bathroom, along with Sakura and Ino's bedrooms.

"Want some?" Ino suddenly offered, holding up a wine bottle to him from the kitchen, causing Naruto to switch his attention from his surroundings, to a drunken Ino.

"I'm alright, thanks…" Naruto mumbled uncomfortably, scratching the back of his neck. Hadn't the girl asked about condoms earlier? Did that mean she wanted to…? Naruto immediately dissolved the thought from his head, Ino had never had any kind of romantic interest in him, even if she had acted interested in the text message, even if she did, Naruto wasn't going to take advantage of her, he's a self admitted pervert, but he'd _never_ do something like that. In her increasingly drunk state, maybe she had completely forgot she had offered him such sexual favours, hopefully...

Ino shrugged when he refused the wine, causing her to set the bottle on the table and open her fridge, bending into the refrigerator to see all it's contents. Naruto looked away quickly after, his sight fixed on the three doors off to his side, a clear to see blush on his face. With the skinny jeans the blonde was wearing, and her bending over, her...fairly...sexually appealing body...was in clear view, and Naruto could even imagine the thought of Ino slapping him once she caught him staring at her. So…Much to his demise, his eyes stay of the three doors, trying to keep any dirty thoughts out of his mind.

"We have beer!" She called out to him. "Or maybe you're more of a scotch or whisky, type of guy?" She closed the fridge walking towards him and leaning against the counter. "Come on! This is one of your only chances at free alcohol! As much as you want! But I don't have any sake so don't get your hopes up."

Naruto sighed in defeat. Since when had Sakura and Ino had so much alcohol? He realized now that Ino wasn't going to give up on him until he started drinking something. "Get me a bear then…" He answered as he let his back rest on the couch, placing two of his arms behind his head. That should work, it's just a beer, that can't get me drunk.

"Gotcha!" She said with a playful wink, grabbing a beer from the fridge and carelessly tossing it to Naruto.

"Woah!" Naruto shouted, as the bottle headed right for his face, fortunately he was able to react quickly, dodging her unattended attack as the bottle hit the couch. The cushions of the seat were soft and kept the glass bottle from taking much impact. "Ino, you almost hit me! Are you insane?!"

"Ino was still wandering around the kitchen holding a wine bottle, but his voice got her attention and she turned around and wore a dumbfounded expression. "Did I?"

"Naruto eyed her sharply and rather than apologizing, the Yamanaka began to laugh hysterically. He didn't retaliate, just a sigh and roll of his eyes, before carefully opening the bottle He took a big sip from the beer, it was refreshing. He wasn't much of a drinker in all honestly, but he had barely drunken anything at all that day, he knew the substance was going to make his throat dry later, but for now, it was better than nothing. Once he went to place the bottle on the table in front of him, Ino began to walk toward him, slumping beside him on the couch, much closer than he would of like, their shoulders were practically connected.

"It feels like forever since I have seen you, Naruto…" Ino began, as she brought her hand up and rested it on his chest. "Tell me…How have you been?" Was….Was she trying to…Seduce him!?"

"I've been….Alright…You know, have had some better days…." Naruto admitted, well shrugging, trying to play it cool. "How about you, Ino…?"

"I've just been absolutely amazing!" Ino slurred dramatically, Naruto couldn't help but hear sarcasm in her voice. The blonde Yamanaka was quick to change the subject. "Ya know…Naruto…" She whispered in his ear as she wiped some of the blonde hair from Naruto's face. "You've grown a lot…Since the academy days…" Soon her hand made it's way under his shirt, her hand sliding up and down his bare chest.

Naruto could feel his face grow very hot, and a deep red colour. "Ino…Why are you doing this?" He knew Ino was trying to seduce him now, and it was definitely working, however he didn't understand why she was trying to allure him the way she was, was she really like this when drunk, now he really understood why Sakura wanted him there, but maybe she should've chosen someone more well suited for the job, like Shikamaru, or Neji, guys who weren't perverts with raging hormones.

A shush was the only thing Ino gave as an answer, as she grabbed his bear off the table. "Drink." She ordered briefly, with a smirk on her lips. She brought the bottle to his lips, tipping it over. Naruto quickly brought both his hands to the bottle to have better control of it, Ino didn't move her hands however.

Ino practically made him drink the entire bottle, having a forceful grasp on the bottle, there was no way Naruto could stop her, because he wasn't spending the entirety of the night with beer all over his clothes. The moment the last of the beer had left the bottle and had been removed from his lips he let out a much needed burp. He had been forced to chug the entire bottle.

"Nice!" Ino shouted, clapping her hands, obviously she was pleased to see he had drank the entire bottle, strangely please. "Another?"

"N-No…I'm fine…"

"Oh god, Naruto. Don't tell me you're a prude for god's sake! Come on…Just this one night, it's just me in you, it's not like anything bad is going to happen!"

"Naruto couldn't believe Ino was trying to force him to continue his drinking, and not only that, he couldn't believe he was starting to fall for her antics.

"One more. But that's it."

* * *

 **Ino**

The moment Ino woke up, her head immediately began to ache painfully, leaving her grinding her teeth in her bed before she could even move to get up. She must of been drinking, she was used to waking up like this, a deathly headache with barely any recollection of the events that occurred the day before. It was common by now.

With Sakura in the house, she knew she was free to drink as she pleased, it was most likely a burden on the pinkette, but Ino couldn't resist the urge if she went without alcohol for too long, before she would binge out on all the alcohol she could find. Sakura tried to hide it from her, but to no avail, she was always able to sneak some into her closet, under her bed, anywhere she knew her friend wouldn't look.

Finally Ino decided to open her eyes, the lids fluttering open, only to be blinded by the sunlight of her window. She put her hand in front of her face waiting for her eyes to get familiar with the bright light, but being hungover, she knew it'd take awhile.

Snoring was all she could hear, and it was only strengthening the pain of her headache. Her azure orbs drifted to her left towards the sound, only to see the back of a rather muscular man beside her, and the back of his head covered with messing blonde locks darker than her own. Did she...have sex with someone? It wouldn't be the first time, she'd been drunk and ended up with men before, it wasn't common, pretty rare, but she's been able to control herself from screaming every time he saw a man naked in her bed.

Ino groaned, the fact she was naked confirmed her suspicions. Time to send him out, she wasn't having some guy she barely knew in her bed for the next five hours, Sakura certainly wouldn't allow it.

"Hey..." She whispered, putting a hand on his back and shaking him lightly. "Wake up..." She continued to shake him, but he only continued to snore obnoxiously. She could take it no longer. "Wake up!" The blonde shouted, grabbing his broad shoulder roughly and shaking him with as much strength as she could muster with her horrible hangover, as expected, it wasn't much.

Suddenly, the snoring stopped, and a rush of relief ran through Ino, but then the man began to turn his side to face her. "Mmmm, yeah, we can have sex now, Ino." He mumbled sheepishly as he fully turned around.

Three trademark whiskers were spread across both of his cheeks, with the necklace belonging to Tsuande hanging around his neck. Seeing this, terror ensued.

"NARUTO!?" Ino screamed hoarsely, a pure horrid expression on her face.

The fellow blonde's eyes shot open, his ocean blue eyes filled with terror. "Oh, Ino! I-"

She didn't let him finish, no, she just screamed.


	2. I

**Ino**

Ino wanted it to be just a nightmare, it needed to be a nightmare, like come on, it was practically impossible! Naruto was in Konoha, she was in Tokyo, how the hell was she suppose to be capable of getting into bed with Naruto Uzumaki when he was miles upon miles away? She knew she was skilled with flirtation of some sorts, but this was just insane!

Subconsciously, of course, she knew it was not the case. Once reaching reality, she was quick to play victim. She grabbed whatever she could find and threw it at the man who laid in her bed. The first thing she picked up was a pillow, which she swung fiercely at his face, then she ran.

Well, she didn't just run, she grabbed the large blanket that was on her bed, and wrapped it around herself in an attempt to hide her naked body from the Uzumaki (more for her peace of mind than anything else), and then she ran, out of the room, and across the hall to the restroom. However, in her panic she tripped over the large blanket, fell through the door and dropped onto the hard, freezing cold, tile floor.

The model groaned in pain, and used her back to shut the door, leaning against it. Well that was certainly helpful, nice one, Ino. Now that she had pushed herself physically, her hangover returned in full force, biting harder than it did before. The fall awarded her an ugly bruise on her kneecap as tribute for her folly, her manager was not going to like this.

Maybe it wasn't Naruto…? She tried to convince herself pathetically, but pretty much everything portrayed otherwise, other than the fact he lived nowhere near her now. It certainly sounded like the Uzumaki she had grown up with, especially convincing now that he was banging on the bathroom door and calling her name, explaining on and on about how he hadn't intended for any of the events in the last 24 hours to happen, along with constant pleas for forgiveness. Then there was the three trademarks lines that ran across each of his cheeks.

Maybe it was, a joke! Yeah, a prank! A silly prank by Sakura to show her the dangers of drinking too much...

Well, ugh, maybe not, certainly not. Even Naruto wouldn't come all the way to Tokyo just to pull a stupid prank that was most likely going to leave him with a black eye courtesy of Ino Yamanaka. Not to mention, Sakura was definitely not the type to prank to get her point across, even if she wanted to prank her, she wouldn't think of something this good. Point of the matter is, Sakura would not do something like this. Especially not go as far as to get Ino and Naruto to sleep naked in a bed together.

This would be a whole other level of pranking that not even Naruto could fulfill, if this prank was a pokemon, it'd be Mew, or maybe Abra, because it always teleports and you can never freaking...No, on second thought, Mew, totally Mew.

Wait, did that even make sense? She's comparing pranks to Pokemon catch rates, she really did do some crazy stuff last night if this was the one thing on her mind.

"Ino! Please come out!" Naruto yelled.

How was she supposed to face him? How!? Matters, surprisingly enough, could have been worse, it could have been Shikamaru, or even Chouji.

"It's okay, Ino! We can pretend it didn't happen, I'll be fine with that!

"Um...I-I..y-you're on the pill, right!? I think Sakura said something about that like….A-A while ago…" Naruto mentioned suddenly, his voice drifted off as he spoke which grabbed her attention.

She bit hard on the side of her mouth. She hadn't been using her birth control, at all. She'd quit using the pill six or even seven months ago!

On second thought, this was much worse.

* * *

 **Sakura**

The date was no different from any other date offered by a chump hoping to get lucky with a pretty girl.

They went to a movie followed by a fast food place, quite boring to be frank, but on the other hand Sakura had low expectations to begin with, so she didn't complain. Being invited on thoughtless dates in exchange for 'sexual favours' didn't surprise her any more.

She was very reluctant when he offered to bring her back to his house, she knew exactly what he was hinting at, once again, another predictable move and she was getting tired of it. It was late though, later than she thought. She had requested he drive her back home, but he said he only had enough gas to make it back to his apartment and didn't have a dime to spare for gas money. It was a lie, obviously.

She wanted to pay for the gas herself if he was going to be so unnecessarily hard-headed, however, she had forgotten her wallet, a grave mistake.

So she was taken to his predictably unkempt and small apartment, and as she suspected he tried numerous times to kiss her, touch her, he seemed not to know the definition of 'no' and 'I'm not interested please let me sleep', it seemed like forever until he stopped, she was strong-willed and pulled out of his grip each and every time, and threatened him with a broken nose if he continued his ignorant shenanigans.

The morning after, he forced the pinkette to leave. Not even subtly, he practically kicked her out of that house just because she didn't...Well...Yeah. Either way, men were assholes.

He had seemed much nicer and well-meaningful when the two had first met, they were even 'friends' for awhile, but at the same time, it wasn't the first time she had come across people like him, so she wasn't going to mope about his dumbass for a second. She had standards.

She was so tired and distracted by the time she got on the subway she was seconds away from missing her stop. Wait, damn it, Sakura you idiot, you could have just called Naruto to come get you. She realized as she trudged slowly up the stairs leading to the flooded streets of Tokyo. On second thought he's probably snoring his ass off on the couch, he's not the type to wake up this early, it's barely 9:00 in the morning.

* * *

 **Naruto**

"Are you alright, Ino?" Naruto mumbled as his eyes followed the Yamanaka who was now pacing up and down the hallway in nothing but a nightshirt she managed to find after finally leaving the bathroom. Well, nightshirt she forced him to find her.

The blonde stopped her pacing for a small moment and glared at him, her irises like ice. "Oh, yeah, Naruto! I'm just wonderful!" She responded sarcastically, and then continued pacing, her entire body was clearly tense, and though she didn't realize it, Naruto just thought she looked constipated.

"Wait! The doctor!" She shouted suddenly. "We could go see a doctor...That's smart...Right?" She added with uncertainty. Her expression portrayed otherwise though, she looked at him with a devious smirk he knew all too well.

Doctor? Why would that be of help? Unless, she was talking about terminating the baby...Wait, that wouldn't even make sense, we don't even know if there is a baby, let alone...Ugh, now I'm even more confused. Instead of continuing his scattered thoughts, Naruto just gave her a wide eyed, bewildered look, in hopes that she would provide him with an iota of clarification.

Ino just continued to stare at him, waiting, and slowly her smirk became a frown, along with a eye roll. "Wow Naruto, you are a total virgin!"

Naruto jumped the moment the words come out of her mouth, his face slowly turning into a flustered shade of red. "W-What!? What is that suppose to mean!?"

"Was I your first?"

"Huh?"

"Nevermind."

A loud set of knocks on the apartment door reach the Kyuubi's ears, and both him and Ino slowly turned their heads to look at the door, but neither made a move to answer it.

To both of their dread, the distinctive voice of Sakura Haruno is what they hear soon after. "Ino!? Naruto!? Open up! I forgot my keys!"

"Hide!" Ino hissed quietly.

However, Naruto didn't hear her, and therefore, went towards the door to answer it, but Ino gripped his shoulder, hard, enough that Naruto could feel her nails digging unpleasantly into him, and tearing his skin, though not enough to cause any bleeding, instead marking him with five, long, red lines along the hill of his right shoulder, as she forced him towards the kitchen.

"Wha-!?" He managed to get out, before Ino roughly covered his mouth with the palm of her hand, he had spoken a little louder than she probably wanted.

"You idiot! Yeah, go ahead, Naruto, answer the door shirtless, with nothing but a pair of ugly ass boxers, because that's not going to be suspicious!"

"Anyone!?" Sakura called, but both Ino and Naruto decided to ignore her. Ino for the simple reason of not wanting to be caught and Naruto because he knew if he even uttered a syllable of response, he'd probably earn a matching five, somewhat long, red scratches on his left shoulder, or maybe even worse.

He had to admit, it had been a little obnoxious for him to open the door half naked, he wasn't thinking clearly, and besides, Sakura was beautiful, wise and reasonable, he was sure she would understand. Since giving up her ninja career she's become much tamer than she originally been, of course she still often yelled at him when he acted 'idiotic' but she hasn't been showcasing her rage with her fists no where near as much as she used to, if at all.

Ino, on the other hand, was an entirely different story, from what he gathered from this small visit, she's still just as stubborn, frustrating and annoying as the day he met her. Why couldn't he have woken up in a bed naked next to Sakura!? With that thought in mind, a red tint covered his tawny cheeks. If Sakura did see him, what would she think? Would she, be turned on? He couldn't be sure, but if she was... "I don't know, I mean, maybe, she'll get a little jealous if she finds out we…A-And then she'll want to…" He mumbled, more to himself than her, as he began reaching for the door. He barely moved before Ino pulled him back, eyeing him sharply.

"Punch you in the face!?" Ino interrupted. "Because that's what she's going to do if you're dumb ass enough to go through with that 'brilliant' idea! Now hide!"

Naruto couldn't respond, because Ino was now dragging him towards her bedroom and practically shoving him through the door.

* * *

 **Sakura**

Were both of them seriously so fast asleep they couldn't answer the door? She expected Naruto to be the one to answer, assuming he was sleeping on their couch which was barely a foot away from the door.

Now she was knocking hard enough to resurrect a dead Ino. Was she really going to need to get her landlord to open it? Because, former ninja or not, she certainly wasn't going to ninja her way through one of the apartment windows, she just bought this jacket.

She proceeded to knock on the door again, however the door opened before she could do so, revealing her friend, Ino, in nothing other than a button up, white, long sleeved shirt. She hadn't been with a guy had she? No, there's no way she could have, not with Naruto there. Unless he didn't end up coming, he better have come.

"Oi! Sakura! How was your date?" Ino asked sweetly, a little too sweet for Ino's standards, tilting her head slightly to the right.

Sakura furrowed her brow, a questionable expression on her face. "The guy's a dick. Um, but what's up with you, and...Why are you wearing nothing but a...night sh-?"

Ino's laughter interrupted Sakura. "Oh, this old thing? I was just changing when you knocked on the door, I was in such a hurry, but I was kinda slow because of my raging headache."

The pinkette suppressed a much deserved eye roll. Oh, of course she has a hangover.

* * *

 **Ino**

I have to be as casual as possible, she's totally suspicious, God dammit, I'm overdoing it. Well, at least Naruto's not here. Did he want to get her jealous, what was he thinking!? What an idiot.

"Oh, well that's fine, I don't mind too much. Um, so, where's Naruto? He did come here last night, right?

Ino's eyes widened, consumed by shock and completely at a loss for words. Sakura...She sent him here, didn't she? She's the reason he's there. She was being cautious because she was drinking! God, she had such a big forehead Ino thought she'd at least be smart enough to mind her own damn business.

No, calm down, natural, natural. I can get pissed off about this later.

"Hmmm? Oh um, yeah, he's in the...washroom."

The same suspicious look returned to the pinkette's face, as she walked through the door and into the apartment. "I see…"

Ino tried her best to muster something up that would defuse the clear suspicion Sakura had concerning the "Naruto" situation. "Yeah, he's been in there forever. The ass, I need to take a shower!"

Sakura chuckled subtly to herself, as she took off her coat and placed it carefully on the hanger near the door. However, Ino knew her suspicion wasn't going to completely vanish, yet, Sakura was far too stubborn to let it go by now.

She just needed to keep up with her plan to get Naruto out, then make up a fake reason to go out for a little while. She'll have some kind of magical pregnancy destroying medicine by sun down!

"Hey Sakura!"

Just then, Ino froze, and slowly turned her head towards the entrance of the hallway, revealing a (much to her surprise) fully dressed Uzumaki, scratching the back of his head childishly.

Now this was NOT part of the plan.

"Good morning, Naruto." Sakura greeted back, with a small, tired smile. "I actually wanted to repay you for helping out last night, wait here..."

"Repay me?"

"Repay him!?"

The blonde duo said at almost the exact same time, only maybe half a second separating their sentences, and Ino being much louder.

Sakura stared at them with wide jade orbs, before relaxing into a smirk, her expression portraying amusement as well as a still lingering shock, followed by a quick nod of her head. "Yeah, I hope you don't mind." She said, turning around and making her way to the jacket she had just hung up.

"I mind!" Ino chimed in, only for the pinkette to quietly ignore her as she reached into the pocket of her crimson jacket. She acts like he was babysitting me or something! Please Sakura, he really enjoyed himself! Trust me.

Ino's icy eyes gazed (more like glared) at the rebellious blonde boy, it took a few moments for him to notice her stare but when their eyes met, it didn't last long, as he immediately looked away after half a second, clearing his throat.

"Um..." Naruto mumbled hesitantly, raising his right hand to scratch the back of his head. "Really, Sakura, it's fine..." Yes, thank god! He understood what I meant!

Sakura took a small white wallet out of her coat pocket, and unzipped it. "No, Naruto, I insist. It was seriously inconvenient for me to contact you so late into the night, I can't just give you a nice 'thank you' and tell you to leave."

Naruto looked over at Ino and shrugged, a worried look in his eyes. She could practically hear his voice asking for some kind of advice, anything to help him screw up less in this touchy situation. Not screwing up at all would be expecting too much of him.

She just glared at Naruto a second time and motioned to Sakura, telling him to continue refusing her offer. She still couldn't believe Naruto was obeying her and not accepting the money, she thought he'd immediately be jumping at the chance for a cash reward for pretty much nothing but sex, but she bet by now he could already feel Ino's fist across his face at the idea of even attempting such a thing.

"Sakura, it's fine honestly, Ino even offered to take me out for breakfast as thanks." Yes, Naruto! You're on a roll!

Sakura paused and turned her head around to look at the two blonde's, an expression of pure disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I'm so hungry, and I am so not cooking!" She whined, pressing two of her fingers against her temples to get her point across. "So I'm going to my favourite coffee shop. I told Naruto I'd pay for him, I know I'm not exactly the most co-operative when drunk, as you've told me maybe...I don't know...One hundred times?"

Sakura arched a brow, and turned back to her coat, putting the wallet back in the pocket. "Well, okay, is that enough for you, Naruto?"

Naruto just stared at her, and it was a few awkward moments till Ino nudged him in the ribs, he groaned, and his face went red, realizing that she had been talking to him. "Y-Yeah! That'll be fine!"

* * *

 **Naruto**

"Alright, well, I'll see you guys later." She said, heading to her room.

"See you, Sakura." Ino responded as Sakura shut the door, waiting a few seconds until she began speaking."That was perfect, Naruto." She whispered excitedly, as she grabbed her white jacket, and began putting it on.

He gave her a confused expression, as he grabbed his trademark orange jumpsuit jacket, he was used to arguing and nagging with Ino, but she was complimenting him now? She must really be terrified. "Huh...? Really?" He mumbled, putting on his jacket.

"Yeah! Taking you to breakfast. Perfect excuse. That way we have a reason to leave the house together and get to the clinic without any suspicion from Sakura! I couldn't of done it better myself."

Naruto paused, hit with a sudden realization, and just silently opened the apartment door, holding it as Ino walked through it with a wide smile on her face. So...They weren't getting breakfast? Like, at all? He felt his stomach growl in mourning of the food that could've been. He said that because he really did want to go and get breakfast.

Not that he was going to tell Ino that, of course.


	3. II

**Sakura**

Something was...weird.

Ino...taking Naruto out for breakfast? Ino taking Naruto out for breakfast...and paying!? With no real reason whatsoever? With no real gain on her end?

Sakura let out a deep sigh, letting her body fall on her bed as she stared up at the ceiling.

 _Ino...What are you planning?_

The pinkette had grown up a constant victim of her classmates, often teased for her larger than normal forehead, she was so shy and timid, practically incapable of engaging in socialisation, leaving her friendless and thanks to her refusal of informing her family to any of the bullying that had occurred, without any form of support.

Then, Ino came.

They weren't exactly strangers to one another, they were in the same class, and were both at least aware of each other's reputation within the classroom. Sakura being a loser with a forehead bigger than any other, and Ino being, well, everything she wished she could be.

She was popular, without a doubt. Everyone in the class either loved her because she befriended them, or just loved her for the sake of doing so. Like in the way you observe someone and don't know why but you just really want to be given their attention. Just watching them talking to others would make you smile, but also envious that the person they're talking to isn't you, but oh, how you wish it was. She wasn't popular in the way most media would portray. She wasn't selfish or greedy. She wasn't hubris or obsessed with her appearance. She didn't have riches or fame. She didn't have a specific group of people she was around. (though she still had total kiss asses.) She was just...her. The bubbly, enthusiastic Ino Yamanaka.

She was intelligent, very smart, the smartest in their entire class. She caught on to their teacher's teaching's almost immediately, mathematics were no problem, strategic studies were no problem. She even succeeded for the most part in the physical tasks they were given. Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Chakra control, you name it. She had graduated the academy top of the class, only falling behind...him.

And to top it all off, she was absolutely gorgeous. She was a pretty young girl and grew up to only become even more beautiful and talented.

Sakura always wondered how it was so easy for her. To just utter a sound and immediately be listened to with attentive and loving ears.

Ino didn't have any reason to help Sakura, she had no reason to give her that ribbon, nor her friendship and attention. She just did.

But Ino wasn't that kind of person anymore.

There was something behind what she had just done, Sakura knew it, she was sure Naruto would of too. She just had to figure out what that was. It was clear she wouldn't be able to prompt the truth from her, nor would Ino end up telling her out of self-guilt, they weren't like that anymore.

* * *

 **Ino**

That was embarrassing and completely unnecessary. Jeez, what a waste of time.

She hasn't taken advantage of the clinic _that_ much, and she had definitely not _abused_ the medical system! That's so over dramatic! 'Abused' they said! She just sweetly asked for was the plan B and their response is; " I feel the need to inform you that you will not be able to get high off of those." That was one time! And for someone else! Now apparently they can't trust her enough to give her a prescription, nor any kind of drugs.

No matter, she'd just visit a pharmacy. No big deal.

If it weren't for the fact they lived nowhere near one.

When she and Sakura had chosen to move to Tokyo, they were tight in money, so when they needed to find a place to live, they chose one of the cheapest apartment in the west Tokyo area. It was not the safest, in fact, it was quite a shady area, one of those places in television with Yakuza, gangs, and criminals being the main population. The complex they lived in practically infamous for illegal drug selling.

It seemed if there was any place that needed a local pharmacy more, it would not be this one. The clinic was already being badly used enough (not by herself may she add), the people around believed the clinic would one day close down just like the pharmacy had before they moved there.

Ever since they both have been able to harbor a slight bit more profit from Ino's modeling and other jobs on the side, Sakura was practically begging they move somewhere different, somewhere cleaner and safer.

However, Ino refused. It wasn't dangerous for them if they were to be confronted. If anyone wanted to mess with either of them, they would never be able to put up much of a fight. Lest they forget they were ninjas once. When they moved, she did not want it to be an apartment complex only a slight upgrade from this one, what was the point in that? When they do move, she wanted it to be somewhere big and sophisticated. Not just leave a crappy apartment to be in a slightly less crappy apartment.

Besides, the men around here were cute. Like the man in red she had met once, for the life of her she could never remember his name, but she could remember every section of his face like she had only just seen him yesterday. Eyes resembling bright rubies, hair long and dark like silken velvet, a dark bang covering one side of his face just like her own, body covered in beautiful art and shriveled scars, yet she thought they made him even more attractive. The floral tattoo on his back was her favorite.

She tried to touch it once.

He yelled at her, and he was usually so calm and polite, it was uncharacteristic of him.

That was the last time she saw him. He was quite the catch, a nice fling well it lasted.

Bottomline was, she couldn't picture herself leaving that place anytime soon.

She swallowed, feeling a dryness in her throat that she hadn't noticed was there, and taking a sip of her coffee in hopes of remedying it.

"Come on, are you sure you don't want any of these pancakes? They're really good."

Ino scoffed, resting her chin on her palm. "Seeing you chew them with your mouth wide open has not made them any more appetizing than the last time you asked, Naruto. Thanks anyway."

Naruto's eyebrows raised, he covered his mouth quickly, Ino couldn't help but find the reaction quite cute. Well, as cute as someone like Naruto could be. "Opps. Sorry. Habit." Despite the ironic fact he had said all that with food still in his mouth, she smiled.

"What now?"

Ino paused, a waitress came by and asked how they were doing and if they'd like anything else, Naruto and her both quickly scrambled to say they were fine so she would leave them be.

She waited till the waitress was a fair distance away before she answered. "Well, I'll just pick some stuff up from the pharmacy later, I have to meet up with my agent in a few hours."

"What about me? What am I doing?"

"What do you think? Going back to Konoha, duh."

"What?!" It was louder than she would have liked, but she didn't have the energy to be angry about it at the moment.

"What did you expect? You were only supposed to be here for the night, what else do you want from me?"

Naruto was silent after that. That came out harsher than she wanted, but she didn't try to correct herself.

"That's...not what I meant..." He mumbled, looking down at his plate.

She was done with this. She took her wallet, putting two twenty dollar bills on the table and then put it back in her purse. Naruto didn't say anything, he just stared and watched as she put on her coat, a tired and sullen look on his face that she probably matched.

"Naruto, listen." Her body began to shift out of the booth, and she stood at the edge of the table. "I know you're an amateur at this, so I'll help you. When a guy has unprotected sex with a girl, he isn't part of the story anymore, his role has been fulfilled, this is the part where he leaves, do you understand?"

His mouth twitched, his eyes shifted, it seemed he wanted to say something. She didn't know what it was, she didn't care what it was, instead, she slammed on the table and repeated herself. "Do. You. Understand?" It was only a fraction of a nod, but she still spun on her heel and made her way to leave, raising her hand up lazily in some sort of attempt to wave goodbye. "Tell Shikamaru and Choji I said 'hi.'"

* * *

 **Naruto**

...And so they never spoke to one another again. The end.

Well, not exactly, but it certainly felt like it'd be that way.

He never told anyone what happened. Not like Ino had ever said he couldn't do so, not explicitly, it just felt like an unspoken rule to him.

For awhile, it was almost as if it never happened, all just a bad dream. He almost forgot about it, but every time the mere thought crossed his mind, even for a second, a towering feeling of guilt would overpower him. He tried to call Ino a few times in cases like those, when he felt like he'd almost drowned himself in pity, she never picked up, he had a strange feeling she had blocked his number.

Three months later he made a visit to the Inuzuka residence along with Shikamaru and Choji.

It'd been awhile, he had completely shut himself in his house, and had barely been going out for missions, let alone hanging out and socializing. One particular time Tsunade gave him a firm talking to. (By 'firm' he meant a lot of screaming, yelling and insults being thrown around,) he tried to play it cool, yell back a little, but he thought she saw right through him. After that, the amount of times he was called for a mission within the month lessened, as well as their difficulty. Many would likely think it was because he was being seen as less of a dependable ninja, he saw it as Tsunade cutting him some slack, giving him some room to breathe. She would never agree though if you asked.

Kiba used this simple fact against him when he tried to convince him to visit just a few days before. He went as far as to say people thought he was 'depressed' or something stupid like that. He couldn't have people wasting the time worrying about him.

It was awkward to say the least, when Shikamaru and Choji came to pick him up, (a request made by Kiba to make sure he didn't flake) they had talked for a little bit, but conversation died off soon after, and he was left silent as the two mumbled to each other quietly.

"Ino says 'hi'..."

He was met with two matching looks of shock.

"Ino?" Shikamaru said. "So you've been shutting yourself out from the rest of the world the last two months but you still had time to give Ino and Sakura a visit in Tokyo? Typical."

"Tell her we say 'hi' back." Choji added.

Naruto flinched a little, sighing. "I have a feeling the message won't be received, sorry Choji."

"Yeah, Choji, you have her on your phone anyway, you message her daily."

"I guess."

A few minutes later, they finally reached the Inuzuka residence, Kiba welcoming them warmly as all of them took a seat on the two large couches that faced towards the large television, Shikamaru and Choji on one couch, Kiba and Naruto sitting on the other. The room was dark, the only thing lighting up the room being a lamp near the kitchen in the distance, and the television, which ran a boring celebrity gossip show he had never seen before, all he could do was look at the moving mouths and flashing pictures and guess what the hell was happening, it was muted. It was movie night however, so they wouldn't be watching it, it seemed to be on more so to light the room and prepare the movie. They talked between one another for awhile, the conversation eerily avoiding confronting Naruto, as if they thought the mere mention of it would make him break apart at any moment. Naruto talked too, though not much, everything was seeming rather dull, until Kiba left and came back with two DVD cases in his hands.

"Hello folks, and welcome to movie night! With your host, Kiba Inuzuka. Today we'll be starting with the horror classic..." He raised one movie up in the air theatrically. "Perfect Blue!" He put his hand down. "Followed by a movie we all know and love..." He raised the other one. "Akira!" After that he turned around and crouched down by the television, beginning to set up the DVD player.

"Kiba, your movie selections are so dull. We've all already seen both of those." Shikamaru teased.

"No harm in a rewatch is there? Besides, this is nostalgic! We haven't watched these since that party we had after we found out Naruto got his Hidden Leaf head band!"

"I never...finished watching Perfect Blue" Choji chimed in.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the memory. "Yeah, you ran out like an idiot the second that creepy stalker guy came on screen!" He teased. "Sure you can take it Choji or should we switch it to something more kid-friendly?"

Kiba broke into laughter and Shikamaru stared with a kind smile.

"Hey! I can watch it! That was ten years ago!"

"There's the Naruto we know and love..." Kiba mumbled, Naruto heard it though, he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable at that, he was happy at least that things weren't as awkward as they started off. He had to stop thinking about what happened with Ino, he realized that a long time ago, but now was time to act, now was finally his chance and he was gonna take it.

No more stress, no more sadness, no more pregnancy...

And most of all...No more-

"Ino!" Naruto's head snapped to Choji, his words finishing the thought for him as his finger pointed at the screen.

Naruto's eyes followed where he was pointing, and looked at the screen, and sure enough...There she was. A picture of her to be exact, likely posing for a photo shoot. It showed her seemingly naked from the collar bone up, appearing to be on a white floor, which drew attention to the blonde strands of her hair that lay messily along it. Her eyes were closed, covered in all kinds of colorful eye shadows across the lid, the rest of her face left bare. It seemed to be something for an eye shadow or more specifically make up company, it's logo highlighted in the corner of the picture 'Shiseido', one he had seen on television countless times, it was extremely popular, it was insane she had such a chance to model for them.

The television flashed to another picture, this time, she was wearing a long flowing, sleeveless olive green dress which sparkled with a sense of elegance and clung nicely to her figure, a hand on her hip as she stood at the edge of what seemed to be a runway. Runway model too? This was insane, she looked completely different to him, he wouldn't even think it was her if it weren't for the brightly colored headline which ran across the bottom of the screen, her name shown in bold capital letters.

'YOUNG UP COMING MODEL, INO YAMANAKA FACED WITH INSANE SCANDAL"

"Unmute it!" Naruto yelled, grabbing all three men's intention, suddenly he was off the couch, standing and pointing at the screen with wide eyes. No one moved. "Quick!" Even louder this time, Kiba scrambled, his eyes searching the room quickly, Shikamaru got up from the couch, picking up a cushion and looking under it.

"God! Where the hell is it?!"

"I thought you had it!"

"I had it!? Kiba this is your house!"

Kiba stood up from his crouching position, and walked around the room, his eyes looking through the living room as Shikamaru moved things around.

"Try the kitchen!" Naruto finally said.

"Why would it be in the kitchen?!" Kiba argued, his once relaxed body now stiff with frustration.

"Try it!"

Surprisingly, Kiba obeyed, taking long strides towards the kitchen, looking around the kitchen table and then the counters, his eyes met his dirty oven, which barely worked at this point, and his overused old jet black microwave that was in desperate need of replacement. He walked towards it and the black remote reflected, laying against the side of the microwave, hard to see as it's equally black color blended into the appliance. "There!" He said to himself as he picked it up, and searched through the buttons for the unmute button.

"Hurry!"

"I'm trying, Naruto, calm the fuck down!"

"If we miss this I swear to-"

His voice was drowned out after that, by an obnoxious reporter like voice, he turned to the screen, pictures of Ino still flashing across it. "Ino Yamanaka's fame has only been rising the last couple of months since being featured modeling for popular cosmetics company, 'Shiseido.' Ever since she has been seen on the catwalk modelling the clothes of famous Yuki Torii, and has been featured in countless advertisements and offered many modelling contracts for other companies. However sources close to the blonde beauty have told us there are secrets she's been hiding from the rest of the world!"

Shikamaru's voice interrupted. "This isn't worth it. This is dumb."

"Shut up!"

"No, Naruto. We've all seen shows like these, it's all bullshit! Ino would hate to know we watched this. Kiba shut this shit off!"

"Don't!"

"Kiba!"

No one liked Shikamaru when he got fired up, it was rare, he was usually so calm, so whenever he was angry or loud it was weird, almost scary. However Kiba made no movement to obey, he glanced a Shikamaru nervously, and then back at the screen. Nothing more was said after that, but Naruto bet Kiba could feel the glare Shikamaru was giving him.

He was right too. They shouldn't watch this, it was probably all rumors just like he said.

Or it wasn't.

God, what was wrong with him.

"-The blonde is said to currently be pregnant and has been for a few months thanks to a one night stand inside sources tell us. Her male fans are definitely unhappy with this new information, as well as many of the companies she has been signed to work for..."

Naruto shriveled up, and a feeling of sickness welled over him. His hand moved to rub away the beads of sweat along his brow, and he felt his throat tighten, his breathing becoming loud. From the moment he had read that dramatic headline, something in the back of his mind told him it would be this, but that didn't make the confirmation have any less of an impact on him.

His thoughts ended with the loud click of the television as it went black, turning it off. and saw Shikamaru standing in the kitchen with the remote held tightly in his hand, and a sullen looking Kiba standing near him. Did he take the remote from Kiba? Was there a fight? It didn't look like it, and it didn't seem like something either of them would do, but he couldn't be sure, he had not been paying any attention.

"Shikamaru..." Choji mumbled.

"No." Shikamaru's voice was quiet, almost a whisper, yet it still withheld a strict tone. "We are not talking about that, okay? It doesn't matter, it's all just stupid lies made to attract views, and I hate the fact we were one of them. We should of turned it off when I said."

Kiba's guilt was immediate, "you're right, I was curious. I'm sorry." It wasn't like Kiba, he didn't like being wrong, ever. Even if he knew he was wrong he'd fight it. He could tell you two plus two was five and when you'd tell him it was four, he'd tell you he'd thought you said two plus three. Anything to not _really_ be wrong. No matter how stupid the excuse. This time, however, he gave up just like that.

A sigh. "It's fine, what's done is done, we just...Listen, don't tell Ino we saw that, you won't have to lie for long, I'm sure she'll end up telling us soon, that girl can never keep quiet about gossip, even about herself."

"If she's gonna tell us anyway what's the point of acting like we don't know?"

"Think about it, imagine someone has recently told a huge rumor about you that isn't true, what is your first fear?"

He paused, an uncomfortable expression on his face as he answered quietly. "That people will believe it?"

"Exactly." Shikamaru continued. "If she thinks we didn't hear about this from her, she'll think we believed it. No matter how many times we tell her we never gave it a second thought, if she thinks we thought about the possibility of it being true for only a fragment of a second, she'll be-"

"Sad." Chouji interrupted, a concerned air in his voice as well as his face.

"Or mad. This way she gets the chance to defend herself immediately, a chance she won't feel like she got if she knows we saw this. Short answer, stay quiet or she'll be mad..."

"Or sad!" Chouji added.

"Sad..." Naruto repeated, his voice quiet but the other men in the room still heard him, and turned over to him.

It was silent for awhile, and all though they tried to hide it, Naruto caught every time they peeked over at him from the corner of his eye, looks of concern. For whatever reason, Naruto just felt like they knew. They knew she really was pregnant, and they knew it really was his fault. He was afraid, he felt like he was frozen, he could smell his own nervous sweat, he felt his stomach churn uncomfortably, and he knew he couldn't be there any longer.

Kiba let out a awkward chuckle, scratching the back of his head. "Okay, well, now that we got through that, we can finally watch the movies! Get our mind off this drama!" His voice was cheerful and loud, but anyone could see how forced it was.

"I think I'm gonna leave now..."

The three looked towards him, with mixed faces of confusion, disappointment and shock. "Huh? Naruto, are you serious, we just started?"

Naruto took a few slow, backward steps towards the door. "I know, I know, I'm sorry, I'm just...not feeling that well all of a sudden, I'll see you guys later!" He waved as he turned and bolted towards the door.

"Naruto!" He heard their voices call to him before he shut the door and continued to run until he was far enough that he felt safe.

He was near Ichiraku Ramen when he had finally stopped and let himself catch his breath, his throat felt dry, and he thought he could nearly collapse. It has been awhile since he's trained or went on a mission, hasn't it? Maybe running all that way was kind of pointless in the grand scheme of things, he didn't think any of them had doubted him in the first place, but there wasn't really any use in staying and trying to put up some kind of act, he wasn't much of a liar, they'd see right through him, and then get suspicious, and maybe start asking questions. It would of only made everything worse, probably.

It was simple walk the rest of the way back. He thought about having some ramen since he was so close to his usual place, or at the very least get some water. He decided against it, he just wanted to get home and relax. God, he turned down ramen, he really was changing.

Entering his house, he went into his room, and nearly fell onto his bed, letting his body sink into the cheap cushion, and let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He felt a slight tinge of regret, maybe he should of stayed, he was making progress getting out of the house and hanging out like he was, and he missed everyone, talking to them. He wasn't himself, that much anyone could see. He wanted to be himself again, but he didn't know how.

Especially with the news that just got released.

How did Ino feel?

Was she afraid? Was she angry? Was she sad?

He didn't know, he couldn't guess.

He didn't know Ino at all, and yet apparently he was the father of the child growing in her belly.

He sat in complete silence with his thoughts for a long while. So many questions and so little answers.

...He should call her.

Even if he was probably blocked, even if his worthless ass couldn't be any help to her anyway, it was worth a shot. He took the phone from his pocket and raised it above his head as the screen lit up. He squinted, the light burning his eyes slightly after lying around for so long in his dark room. He read the notification that popped up on the screen.

Text message from Ino Yamanaka. (11:24pm)

He peered at the screen for what felt like forever.

An hour ago. He couldn't believe it.

With excitement and fear, his finger pointed at the screen, and taped on the message.

* * *

Ino Yamanaka: (Monday, 11:24pm) Come over. ASAP.

* * *

A/N: If you know the other fictional character Ino is referring to in her section I'll give you a prize (not really I'll just be pleased with myself.) This took awhile, but it's finally out and I'm gonna try my best to make sure the next chapter doesn't take as long. This one is less funny and more serious than the others, but I tried to sprinkle in some humor here and there anyway.

This is my first A/N, mostly cause I always feel as if no one actually reads the A/N. I felt like making one mostly just to point out the reference I made, but I might do more in the future. I'll try to keep them short though. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! (also sorry for the ending)


	4. III

**Ino**

"Here you go. Have a nice day."

"Thank you." She takes the small box quicker than the receptionist can give it, practically ripping it from the woman's hand and stuffing it deep into her purse without a care. She's already turning around and making her leave before she can even think of getting some form of apology out of herself.

Taking slow strides towards the door, with a tired look, she surveys the waiting room, and catches eyes looking back at her. They didn't know her. They couldn't know her, right? No, no, of course not. _I'm just nervous_. They wouldn't even know what it was she got anyway, so why did she feel like somehow they did?

Pushing the door open, the breeze was frigid and whipped through her coat mercilessly. With how anxiety-inducing those two hours between waiting room, doctor and prescription had been for her, it had never given her such a sense of comfort. The transition from Autumn to Winter was taking place quite drastically in Tokyo. Despite the chill, as well as the fact she was already beginning to display minor symptoms of a cold, she couldn't help but be excited. Winter was without a doubt, her favorite season.

Yet the invigorating chill of winter was often eclipsed by the life-giving rays of Spring which Sakura adored. All the effort that went into building up mounds of beautiful snow always gave way to the season naturally brighter and stronger.

She had left her hair untied as she usually would, not realizing how much of an obstacle it would become of her until long strands of blonde follow the wind and blow into her face, nearly blinding her. Before she has to go through the trouble of regaining control of her hair well trying to get through the parking lot uninjured, the recognizable small, silver car is already in front of her, and she is already in the car and driving off.

"Thanks." She smiled.

Sakura eyes stayed on the road as she responded. "Yeah, you looked like you might need a little help...So, how'd it go?"

"Doctor just prescribed some light painkillers, not going to change my life or anything, but it should stop the headaches." She lied, facing the window.

"Hm. I see. That's good. It was a long trip but worth it, I hope."

"Yeah, considering the fact the clinic by us is seriously useless! God, the nerve! How could he say something like that?! I can't believe-"

Sakura took a hand off the wheel and waved it at her lazily. "I know. You ranted about this yesterday after you came back from that...breakfast with Naruto."

Ino decided to leave the topic there. Sakura's questions had not come close to slowing down since her return, if anything the questions had doubled, and became even more detailed, wanting full explanations, asking even more when she found the slightest inconsistency. She made tons of mistakes before she was sure, at the time she was too stressed and tired to care, but now, her lies came to her endlessly. At least enough to keep Sakura from connecting things, but she could tell Sakura's suspicion wasn't diminishing. It was irritating, and every once and awhile Ino would run out of ideas, but she knew this would all be over soon.

She changed the topic. "Winter is coming!" She said excitedly.

"Winter...is coming..." Sakura repeated, more dramatic and mocked a deep, manly voice, referencing a show they had been watching the past week.

She could only give her a smirk, shrugging. "No snow though."

Probably her favorite part of winter was that, the snow. People complained that it was both cold and bothersome, but she couldn't help but find it so pretty. People used to tell her she was obsessed with appearance, only cared about appearance and nothing else. In a way, she supposed they were right, she loved Winter simply for how pretty it looks. Growing up it used to be because of Christmas, but the holiday aged with her, at age 19 it became more of a day off of work than an extravagant affair with family, decorations and an old guy sneaking into your house, finding your food, and then giving you presents.

Times have changed and she was 23 now. Christmas was now the holiday of keeping your friends from sneaking into your private life, finding your secrets, and then giving you crap.

* * *

Ino was already in the washroom the second she got home.

Her eyes scrolled the small square box, reading it off to herself. Squinting at the small letters that were suppose to be the directions. ' _Take first tablet as soon as possible, but no longer than 3 days after unprotected intercourse."_ Check. It had been 2 days, as long as the night of sex didn't count. _'Take second tablet twelve hours after the first.'_ followed by a recommendation to write the time that the first pill was taken on a separate piece of paper, or to set an alarm to take the second pill.

She chose the latter.

She pushed the first pill out of it's packaging, and let it lay on the palm of her hand, a bottle of water sitting on the bathroom counter.

She grimaced. Contrary to the clinic's _accusations_ , she didn't like pills. In fact she was never able to take them as a child, she would end up vomiting right after, rendering the pill useless, and although she had grown a tolerance, her opinion of them hadn't changed.

She did try to get prescribed pills once, the ones that someone might use to get a little high. Her clinic had become so cautious over the year, with how many people were trying to abuse the medical system, that they've been suspicious of her ever since.

It seemed everyone was suspicious of her these days.

In reality, she didn't want those pills, someone else did. _A guy_. One she liked at the time, a lot, she thought she loved him. She thought he'd marry her, he said he would, and how could the hopeless romantic in her deny that? Obviously he didn't. It didn't matter now.

She regained focus, and looked at the pill again.

Now, the plan B pills weren't that big, actually, they were tiny. They weren't even really pills, only a chalk like tablet that could dissolve in her mouth if the idea of swallowing it whole bothered her all that much.

It should be fine, really. She had to.

Honestly, it wasn't the pill that scared her the most.

She took a deep breath. "For you, for your career, you're a model now, Ino." She said to herself, before throwing her head back and popping the pill into her mouth.

* * *

Ino could smell the sweat on her manager's forehead, as she tried her damn hardest to zip up the back of the simple, royal blue dress. She was suppose to be wearing it to her interview with a fashion designer who wished to work with her, it was a big deal, a big designer, it was important, and she couldn't help but be filled with dread.

The older woman sighed ,defeated, finally giving up. "You're gaining weight."

Ino was silent, preferring to look down at her feet, rather than her manager, or the mirror in front of her. The comment, admittedly, bothered her. In the mirror, she was in no way overweight, but by modelling standards, they would tell her she was fat, and she knew it. Lately, whenever she would meet with any kind of professional, she'd suck her stomach in as much as possible. Or as much as she could till it was obvious. She knew the tiniest bit of weight gain could completely ruin her ability to get hired.

A sigh. "Listen, I'm not trying to give you an eating disorder or anything, I'm just letting you know it's something you should consider working on."

Ino turned, suddenly feeling the aching in her back, her sight growing blurry, and mind growing dizzy. "I'm sorry, Hauli. Can I just sit down?"

Hauli nodded, guiding her to a couch nearby and sitting beside her, rubbing her back. "You seem a little sick...Are you okay for this interview?"

"Yes, Yes, of course!"

"I'm just worried, if things get bad enough and you need to be pulled out last minute, it can give you a bad reputation. You're no diva, don't let people think you are."

Ino snorted. " _Not_ a diva?"

Hauli was quiet for a few moments, her mouth twitching, before curving into a grin. "Alright, yeah, you're a diva. A respectable diva. Not one someone would want to keep from hiring. Your popularity is going to start rising, very, _very_ quickly soon. You're going to be my main money-maker, don't ruin it for me."

"Oh my god." The blonde took the pillow beside her and threw it. "Screw off!" She yelled teasingly, laughter bubbling in her voice. Her manager laughed along with her.

She got up, and walked into another room, yelling to Ino from across the house. "I have a backup plan, don't worry! I have a cardigan for you to wear over it so the designer won't be able to see the zipper!"

She watched the woman as she came back into the room, throwing the simple black cardigan on the couch towards her."But aren't I supposed to walk around for them pretty much half naked? What's the point of the dress anyway?"

"Nope. That's the second interview."

"There's more than one!?"

"You bet your ass."

Ino could only groan.

"Welcome to professional modelling, Yamanaka."

Ino threw up into a trash bin several moments after.

* * *

 **Sakura**

 _Damn._

Car's moved slowly around the city roads, small bundles of icy hail falling along her windshield, the wiper blades pushing them off the window, making a humming noise as they did so. Traffic was quite a tiring affair for the two, Ino shifting in the passenger's seat with frustration, constant complaining with her typical rants, criticizing both Sakura and the other driver's efficiency, as if relaying a powerful speech of why she should be the next Prime Minister of Japan. It didn't matter if she hadn't touched a gas pedal a day in her life, she could still probably drive better than _those_ idiots! God.

Sakura actually found it quite peaceful every once in awhile. That being if she weren't in a rush (and Ino wasn't in the passenger's seat.) It gave her breathing space in a day which would usually be continuously hectic for her. It could be quite relaxing in many circumstances.

This, however, was not one of them.

Sakura's painted nails tapped on the wheel of her car, making a muffled ticking sound against the leather. "That movie was..."

"Terrible!"

She nodded."It was."

"The acting was atrocious! They were so awkward, it was so... _cringe_! I might as well be a A list actress if that's what's getting paid these days."

"If you're gonna become an actress, you should be a singer too. Can't be one without the other."

She quietly observed Ino as she contemplated her words for a moment, before her expression brightening in, what was hopefully, some form of approval. "You know what? You're totally right!"

"It was a jok-"

"I can sing!" She scoffed childishly.

"No you can't."

"Shush! Lemme show you..." Sakura's tensed, her hands tightening on the wheel as she watched Ino suck in a breath.

"We're home!" Sakura called out in a fit of desperation. That should work.

Grabbing Ino's attention, the blonde let go of her breath and glanced out the window. "What do you mean? We're still in the middle of a goddamn traffic jam." This distracted her enough, her wine red lips pushing together tightly, her expression looking almost like one of genuine pain.

"Idiots! The light has been green for like...An hour!" Clenched fists pounded on the dashboard. "Why aren't we moving!?"

The pinkette's shoulders slouched, relieved.

She'd rather a rant than singing at this point.

* * *

This was probably not something she should do. It probably wasn't something anyone should do. This light suspicion was starting to rise to levels that was nearing on an obsessive territory.

But, for the life of her, she could not get this whole fiasco off her mind! She said it once and she'll certainly say it again; something was _weird._ You know what, not just weird. Something was _wrong_. from sudden "annoying ass headaches" to daily vomiting and nauseousness. She soon came to the conclusion that after these couple months of waiting, months of wondering, this curiosity wasn't going to decrease till she got herself a valuable answer; or at the very least some kind of plausible theory.

This was probably why she was still single.

Sakura bit her lip, her teeth biting down harder and harder with each and every unanswered ring.

"Hello?"

"Hauli?"

"Yes. That's me. Who is this?"

She didn't have her number saved in her phone. That's kind of… embarrassing. Sakura paused and thought to come up with something to restore her damaged pride. Something along the lines of "Ino told me to save your number for emergencies," because god forbid Hauli think she was actually interested in a friendship with her.

Her mouth and stomach twisted sickly and unnaturally, as she took a slow, deep breath, letting her bitterness go as she uttered only two words. "It's Sakura."

She could've sworn she heard a deep 'ugh' before Ino's manager spoke tiredly. "What is it?"

And bang. Another shot. Harsh. "H-Hey, what's with your attitude, huh? Maybe I just want...to talk. You don't know."

"Bye."

"No, wait!"

There was silence for awhile. Sakura didn't say anything at first, waiting for the line to go dead with a long beep. It didn't happen.

Cautiously she spoke. "...Hauli?"

"What?" It's less stern than she'd usually expect from the older woman, something about it almost sounds sympathetic.

"I'm worried about Ino..."

* * *

 **Ino**

It was late into the day when she returned home, the sun just barely began grazing the horizon. She didn't like walking home alone, (thank god for Hauli) it was only about a kilometer in length to her house from where they had dropped themselves off. (Hauli wasn't bathing in money, but in the part of town Ino lived, she was sure to be seen as a millionaire of sorts. Hauli decided her best bet for not getting her car robbed would be parking it in a paid parking area in a safer area of town, meaning they would walk the rest of the way.) Obviously the area she lived was creepy as hell. Ino could handle it if they were in any confrontation, but that didn't make it any less intimidating.

Hauli had much less self defense experience then she did. For whatever reason though having her with her made her feel a lot more protected. (In other words, she could buy her a good lawyer.) The manager adjusted her scarf around her neck.

"It's so fucking cold, I could cry and my tears would freeze."

Ino almost slipped on the ice when she went to respond, if it weren't for the fact she was meeting with someone important today should would never even thought of a two inch heel, let alone four inch. "I can't feel my face, or my hands, I can't even see! I tied my hair up and it's still getting in my face!"

"You wouldn't be able to see anything anyway, it's snowing like crazy right now."

"What? It's snowing!?" Ino whipped her ponytail out of her face, fly away hairs still coming in and out of her vision, but she could at the very least see the large white flakes that flew across her vision. It flowed with the wind in an almost water like fashion. For a moment Ino smiled gently and forgot all her problems, and watched the specks of pure white dance across the night sky.

"Ino?"

The blonde's attention redirected to the older woman, snowflakes tangled in her shoulder length ebony hair. Ino couldn't see her face, or read her expression, but she came to her side quickly and continued walking.

For whatever reason, the sickening chill that had once plagued the air vanished for her, and her face beamed. "I change my mind, Winter's my favourite season again."

"How long ago did you change your mind about that?"

"Twenty minutes ago."

* * *

After such a stressful and emotional day, the greeting she was given (if you could call it that) was a single question.

"Where's Hauli?"

Ino grimaced at the tone of voice, and groaned, if she was Shikamaru right now; it would be the perfect time the utter the perfect 'troublesome' under her breath. If it weren't for the shift in atmosphere she'd of said it as a joke right then, for old times sake, might give the two girls a good laugh. Turning towards the entry of the apartment, Sakura did not stand far from her, her crossing arms, pouting lips and wrinkled brow made it clear she wasn't in the mood for the joke.

The blonde's laugh was belittling, _that_ was on purpose. "Hauli? You barely know Hauli, why does it matter to you?" If she wanted to play this game Ino wouldn't back down.

"You were just with her, You both usually come home together, I presumed she'd be back with you."

"Well, fine, I thought she would be too, but she told me that she had errands to get to and had to head out."

Sakura covered her face with her palm sighing and whispering to herself. "Oh, _of course_ she has errands right now. She just wants to make sure _I'm_ the bad guy."

 _"Excuse me?"_

Sakura rushed out of the room, almost tripping over herself in anticipation, and went into their bathroom, coming out seconds later with a small cardboard box in her hands, one she recognized.

Specifically the big bold word colored in a deep blue. "One-Step Plan B."

 _Dear Plan B box designers,_

 _Real discreet there! How about a kickstarter on a super secret CIA level Plan B box design? Call me, I have some good ideas. Thanks._

 _Sincerely, Ino Yamanaka._

Sadly, she wasn't currently working with the talented people who created the pristine PLAN B, what a prestigious and fulfilling job, creating Plan B boxes, she could have enough money to get herself a time machine to get the fuck out of this reality she got herself stuck in.

"I've had that for months. What crawled up your ass?"

"Ino, it was in the bathroom's trash bin and, believe it or not, I take the trash out on a regular basis. If it was from months ago, I'd hope to god it wasn't there anymore..."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, forehead. That. is. not. mine."

Sakura perked up suddenly. "Oh really?"

"Yes."

The smirk that crawled into her dampened expression could've killed Ino right then in there. "Hm. Well I guess it doesn't really matter to you then that it expired three months ago..."

A long pause. "Three...Months..." Any spirit that was left in the bombshell seeped from her pores as her face drained of colour. She took them one month ago.

There was nothing like the familiar taste of defeat.

* * *

 **Naruto**

Naruto took the term 'ASAP' very seriously. He had started packing the moment he read the text, and by the time the sun was rising the packing was nearly completely done. He had packed about a month worth of clothes, he thought-no-he _hoped_ that this stay would be longer than a month at least. He didn't pack much more than that, he didn't really think about it. He went to bed just before the sun had come up, setting an alarm for four hours later, thinking it should be enough to manage the walk to the train stop, and then he could get the rest of his 'Z's' on the train. The way he had everything set up, he should be in Tokyo by seven at night, and at Ino's apartment an hour later.

He didn't live far from the Leaf Village entrance (or in this case exit), so it was only thirty minutes after the alarm went off that he was on his way out of his hometown.

He was stopped, and he expected to be stopped, and a lengthy conversation with whoever was guarding that day. After Sasuke's escape from Konoha and countless non-permitted entries into the village, security had become pretty tight. It was hard enough to get through when you had a signed authorization from Tsunade, detailing why exactly you were leaving and when exactly you were supposed to be back, usually a document given for missions and missions only. So if you didn't have that document you were practically screwed, you'd have to be a very charismatic and patient person to even be considered.

As if it couldn't get worse, the guard stepped out of the booth and stood in the middle of the border, hands lying lazily in his pockets, posture slouched and a single cigarette in his mouth. The man he was faced with was Shikamaru Nara.

 _How convenient._

Naruto forced a laugh, making the awkward silence all the more uncomfortable. "Uh….Hey!"

"I know for a fact you don't have a mission document."

"I really didn't expect you to be working Border Security right now."

Shikamaru scoffed, taking a puff of his cigarette before answering. "Neither did I, the guy who had the shift bailed last moment. Wouldn't of stayed up till 3am watching movies if I knew I was going to be stuck here with you."

He waited for a response, but Naruto didn't have one. Opting to fiddle with his hands as he stood on the ground.

"Well, I told you why I'm here, time to tell me why you're here."

He really wanted to lie, but he was a bad enough liar as it is, a child would be able to see that. It was best he be honest with him, they were friends. "I'm just going to see Sakura." Well, somewhat honest.

The other man's dark eyebrows rose quickly with interest, but lowered down back to his typical expression. "Sakura, huh? Sure it's not Ino?"

"Am I _that_ obvious?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Nah. Just mighty suspicious that the day after the news about Ino comes out you want to go and visit her and Sakura's apartment."

"I know it looks ba-"

"Do you like her?"

The sudden accusation made him jump a little, completely flabbergasted on how off topic the Nara had become, something that wasn't like him at all. Naruto feigned a dramatic look of disgust.

"Ew! The hell would make you think that?" Sticking his tongue out and adding a gag for some extra character.

Shikamaru grimaced, his eyebrows tight knit in a fit of bewilderment. "I mean, you're on your way to Tokyo for her."

"I was told to come over. I don't know what they want!"

His dull eyes widened. "Huh? She asked _you_?"

Naruto grinned. "My thoughts exactly."

Shikamaru's expression became stiff, his jaw clearly locked.

"I wasn't gonna go, but I wouldn't want both of them on my case! That's a fate worse than death!"

He thought Shikamaru would laugh and agree with him, being on teams with Ino and Sakura respectfully, it became a common inside joke between the two of them. The first day they left for Tokyo they had joked about having a "freedom party." (And if a trip to the ramen stand with Choji and Kiba was considered a party they pretty much did.) At the very least Shikamaru could acknowledge him, but he didn't, he took another puff of his cigarette, seemingly deep in thought, but not long after threw it on the ground and dug his foot into it. He looked tired. (Though people like the Nara always did.)

Closing his eyes with a frown he spoke. "Well what are you waiting for? Go."

Naruto just stood there, bright eyes wide and mouth hanging open ever so slightly.

His eyes opened and glanced back up at him, expressionless. "You should hurry, she's waiting for you."

Did that really just slide? Sure he wasn't completely lying, but he wasn't completely lying last time either and Shikamaru still caught him and called him out. How did that just work? In his defense, he did seem very distracted suddenly, like his thoughts were somewhere else (which was a very Shikamaru thing to do.) Naruto decided he should take what he could get.

The blonde bolted down the road, waving his hand towards his old friend. "Thanks Shika!" He called out.

"Troublesome."

He was too far to hear the response.

* * *

 **Ino**

He wasn't going to come. Why would he come? Sure he screwed up just like her, he could take approximately forty percent of the blame for the situation. However just two months ago the blonde had pretty much hand delivered him a get out of jail free card by telling him to screw off. He had no reason to come back other than morals, and she may not have known Naruto well, but she knew his perverted ass wouldn't mind getting out of this one.

It was possible he didn't see the newscast, and well, any gossip magazine in existence currently, but getting a text from her demanding that he come see her after ignoring him since the incident, it was easy to connect one with the other.

She was stuck with _his_ baby.

Sakura eyed her friend up and down as she stared out the window of her room, tense and nervous. She slowly stepped into the room and sat on the bed, the old springs making a sharp creaking sound.

Sakura finally spoke. "I still don't understand why you're bringing Naruto over of all people, why not Choji or Shikamaru? They know you better, and I'm sure they'd be able to help you."

Ino glanced at the pinkette and paused. She felt her body stiffen and robotically reached her hand under her mattress, pulling out a crumpled and damaged magazine from the year before, there was no chance to have a single mention of her in it.

She glided her hands over the cover in a hopeless effort to restore it, even if that be the slightest bit. A woman and man with dark black hair and eyes were on the cover, a couple, arms wrapped around each other, thoughtless smiles on their lips as they stared back at the blonde without a care in the world. They looked fake and plastic, too happy for their own good. Were they really a symbol of love? She knew of them, they were famous, they had been 'happily' married for four years, that sounded fake to her.

They were still famous.

Ino flipped to the page that had been held by a piece of paper she had used as a makeshift bookmark. The bold title glared back at her "Asia's Top 8 Most Controversial Couples."

"I didn't know you were into those kinds of magazines…" Her friend mumbled beside her.

Ino shut the magazine, and looked back to her friend, a look that turned into a stare. She had no idea - at least not yet, but she was about to. "I have a plan, It'll seem stupid, but I think it might actually work. I just need a willing guy and Naruto's just about dumb enough to go along it."

That wasn't the only reason however, she was sure if she asked nicely, or more likely, begged, Shikamaru or Choji would do it, but the next couple of months were going to be a roller coaster ride, and the only one who should be put through that is the person who started it. (forty percent of it.) She wasn't exactly ready to share that part of her pregnancy with the pinkette just yet, if ever.

"But-you won't even tell _me_ the plan."

Ino smiled painstakingly and waved one of her hands towards Sakura. "That's cause you have nothing to do with the plan, everything will make sense once it pans out, I promise you. Nothing personal."

Sakura held a pained expression for a few moments, seemingly wanting to retaliate but deciding otherwise at the last moment. "Well...I wish you luck! I am sure you can do it!" Ino appreciated her (awful) attempt at support, especially with something as doomed as this, but she was going to salvage as much as she could, no matter how little that may be.

"Hey, you're good with projectors and laptops and all that right?"

"Yeah, why?"

Ino quickly stood and rushed towards the desk in the corner of her room, where her laptop lay open. The wallpaper shined brightly on the screen, just the basic wallpaper that is automatically installed to your laptop once you get it. It would usually be stylized to her liking, Which had only a few hours ago been the picture of her modelling for Shiseido. A picture Ino handled with the highest of respect had become a constant reminder of just how badly she'd failed herself.

With those thoughts echoing in her mind, she shut the laptop with the bang of metal hitting against metal.

She handed the machine over to Sakura, who stared at her blankly. "Could you set this up in the living room?"

"Eh? Really? Come on now, Ino."

"I'm serious!"

* * *

 **Naruto**

Naruto pushed through the rows of Tokyo residents, a take out styrofoam box being ruined with each and every shove from the crowd. He had no idea it would be so busy at this time, he wasn't sure what was going on but everyone seemed to be crowding around the areas near Ino's apartment, he took a bite of his hajimeya and hoped it wasn't related to the scandal. He continued to chew a piece of meat, grimacing slightly when he realized the meat was a little too cooked for his taste, even though he'd made it clear he wanted medium rare, or at the very least anything but well done.

He closed the styrofoam container and put it in his bag and decided he'd just save it for later, he wasn't that hungry anyway, he really just wanted to delay things.

He dug his teeth into the side of his mouth, the tender flesh almost numb to the pain under the weight of his own anxiety. He was excited to hear from Ino before, that much could be obvious from this morning, but with every step he takes he feels himself becoming overwhelmed again.

But, this was certainly...the right thing to do, morally he was doing the right thing here, and Ino wanted him here, she asked for him to come here. There were tons of time he just wanted to run to Tokyo and confront her, let her know he wanted to help her, even if it was just a scare, it still would've been incredibly traumatic for her. He couldn't understand why she wouldn't want...no...completely refused his _support_. What was her problem? She was such a pain to deal with. She finally understood why Shikamaru had not stopped ranting about her after all these years.

The fact she was contacting him probably meant things hadn't exactly worked out for her, there was no other reason he'd want him around. That might mean he's going to be a dad, and he was beyond alarmed by how okay that sounded to him. Maybe it just hadn't really hit him yet, that happens all the time.

As those thoughts escaped him, he waited by a cross walk as cars rushed by him, blowing his hair to the side with each car. Just pass this crosswalk and he'd be at the complex. His fists clenched as he made the rest of the walk to the building, through the lobby and up the stairs. The stairs, not the elevator, another chosen delay that he regretted soon after when he remembered that he hadn't been on a proper mission or done any training in more than a month (keep in mind their room is on the second damn floor.)

When he was at her door, he just stayed in place, not moving, staring at the familiar label. 'B2.'

Things were going to be different from this point forward, and if he was not prepared to take responsibility then he could not call himself a man, nor a ninja, nor ever a hokage, and so he knocked on the door.

One knock. Two knock. Thr-

Before he could knock a third time the door is already opening, and the woman who had become the center of his world for three months was standing in front of him again, her expression, with a frown weighing down her face and dark circles under her eyes, appeared tired and downtrodden, her usually bright aqua irises and blonde locks of hair looked as if they had went several shades darker. Her mouth moved slowly, seeming to utter the words of an apology.

But that didn't really matter to him, all the fear and anxiety seemed to drain there as he sighed, a tired smile curving across his lips. "Ino..." and before he could realize what he was doing, his arms wrapped around her.

* * *

 **Ino**

Ino swallowed her pride and took a deep, hopeless breath. "Listen, I know this looks ba-"

She shrieked as she felt his cold hands embrace her, shivering and trying to pull away at first, but his hold to tight for her to do so. Once she's over the sudden chill, she comprehends just how odd his actions are. When she had imagined this scenario in her mind, she never thought this was an option, more so a ton of fighting, and anger and complaints, maybe sadness, and even though he didn't seem exactly ecstatic (who would be in this situation?) this was so much more than she felt she'd ever deserve from him.

In all honesty, she wouldn't blame him if he came all this way to call her a hypocritical bitch and leave.

She hesitated hugging him back, no matter what, they still barely really knew one another, even though that didn't seem to cross her mind _that_ night. This was really the least she could do for herself, wasn't it? To hold up her sore self esteem? She kinda wanted to hug him back though, just a little bit. It'd be polite wouldn't it?

-God...what was she even doing? This hug seemed to be scaring her more than him fighting or yelling at her would have.

Before she had time to conclude her convoluted thoughts, and make any kind of decision, he finally let go of her.

The blonde closed his eyes and slouched, scratching the back of his head defeatedly.

"Why?"

Naruto opened his eyes. "Why what?"

"Why aren't you mad at me!?" She cried.

He paused, before his voice bubbled into a low chuckle. "I was kinda scared ya' know? Now I'm just really relieved."

Something about it almost felt fake, a little too forgiving, but the blonde knew better than to question him. He'd always been a peculiar character she could not completely understand, nor did she ever try to, which was her own fault. What he was 'scared' and 'relieved' of she couldn't really be sure, and didn't have the time and energy to make any theories.

Ino turned to glance back into the room, Sakura nowhere in sight, _she must of left for her night shift already_ she thought to herself. She backed up into the doorway and held the door for him. "Come inside, we can talk more."

* * *

 **Naruto**

Naruto did as he was told, and as he entered the apartment, he was astonished by the setup. The area of the room the couch faced that was once eerily barren now had a dusty looking projector setup on a coffee table to face the wall. His ocean like eyes following the wire connected to it and meeting a closed laptop, but he had little time to figure out what that was before Ino guided him to sit on the couch across from the other, which had the laptop running on it.

"You weren't wearing a coat, you must be freezing."

Naruto nodded and offered a smile in response. "A little bit."

"Give me a second, I'll get you a blanket, or something at least."

"Uh, yeah! - Thanks…"

He watched her back as she rushed down the small hallway and into her room, barely shutting the door behind her. Naruto regained his focus on the projector and laptop set up in front of him. Looking towards the hall, and then the door he had came from, curiosity got the best of him as he started to slide across the couch slowly, and when he reached the other end of the couch, he quickly switched to the other couch, and made a dash for the laptop, opening it.

What was displayed was a message thread on a popular chatting and video calling service that he had an account for himself. The username displayed at the top being "Hauli." He let out a 'hm' sound, scratching on his side burns. He didn't know someone like that, he assumed it was someone she'd met in Tokyo

He closed it and went back to his spot on the other couch. Just messaging…nothing to worry about, he shouldn't peep on that stuff anyway.

Nope.

Not at all.

That'd be bad.

Very bad.

...And so Naruto read the messages.

 _Hauli_ : [10:40pm] You're pushing it here.

 _Ino_ : [10:40pm] Forgive me, manager-san.

 _Hauli_ : [10:44pm] Oh please, don't even, do you know how hard it's going to be to convince them to bring two people? Your invitation was already more than we deserved after what just came out about you, and you want me to tell them we need an extra invite to for your "male friend!?"

 _Ino_ : [10: 46pm] Don't worry about it, this will benefit the both of us, trust me! It'll be good for us.

 _Hauli_ : [10: 46pm] He's named after a fishcake for god's sake!

 _Hauli_ : [10:46pm] _it isn't good_.

 _Ino_ : [10:50pm] Hauli, I know this is a lot to ask, but I would never try to do something that could sabotage this for me and you.

 _Hauli_ : [10:50pm] *you and I

 _Ino_ : [10:50pm] Hauli are you serious?

 _Hauli_ : [10:51pm] Sorry couldn't help it.

 _Ino_ : [10:52pm] I text like a grandma now thanks to you.

 _Ino_ : [10:53pm] Just please, at least try, I understand if they refuse but please give me the chance here, I want to save this.

 _Ino_ : [11:10pm] Hauli?

 _Ino_ _:_ [11:20pm] ?

 _Hauli_ : [11:23pm] I'll see what I can do.

 _Ino_ : [11:23pm] Thank you so much, Hauli! I owe you.

The messages ended there, and Naruto stopped reading, and was disappointed to be just as confused as he started. It had something to do with him though, everything else made his mind blur. Before he could scroll up to get more context of the conversation, he heard a door creak.

Slamming the laptop down and absent-mindedly grabbing it in his hands.

"Sorry that took so long, Sakura called me and-"

Matching blue eyes made contact and stared.

Ino froze in her spot, eyeing the man up and down repeatedly, taking in the information. The look on her face went from one of shock to looking as if she were offended. A look that made his heart fall into his stomach.

Naruto panicked and held the laptop against his chest. "It's hot!"

Ino's face fell a little again. "What…?

"It's hot! I'm cold! It's nice!"

More staring.

She couldn't seem to hold back a smile, she giggled slightly and put her head in her palm. "Oh my god, Naruto, just lay down. _Please_." She took the laptop from him and gave him a grey wool blanket in exchange, she unhooked the wire that connect the projector and threw it on the ground carelessly.

"It was probably overheating, so It's probably best I put it away for now. I wanted to show you something but it's late, there isn't really time for it now."

Naruto went back to the couch and crunched his body into it uncomfortably, his head barely on the armrest, and feet hanging off the couch on the other side. He wondered if she wanted to show him the messages she had running before, he felt a weight of guilt fall off his shoulders.

He was still cautious not to allude to it.

She opened the laptop and viewed the screen, typing and clicking every now and then. "I'm sorry about the arrangements, I thought about having you take Sakura's bed but I doubt she'd of been alright with that…" She said, eyes still on the screen.

Naruto nodded. "It's okay, I understand."

She shut the laptop and held it beside her, a hand on her hip. "I wish I could keep you company for awhile, but I kinda - well - didn't sleep last night, so I'm tired as fuck right now."

He clutched on the blanket and felt a sharp stab-like pain to his abdomen, _he had a feeling he knew why that was_.

When she was at the hallway, she turned to him and smiled. "Sleep well, Naruto."

"You too-and by the way, Shikamaru and Choji say hi back."

After a few seconds, she smirked slightly, remembering the last words she had said to him before. "Well - Tell them I say, 'how are you?'" She laughed to herself, Naruto mirrored her actions.

"Goodnight, Naruto."

"Goodnight Ino…"

* * *

A/N: I want to thank everyone for the feedback they gave me last chapter, it really motivated me to get this out quicker than I usually would. (yes, four months is considered quick for me.) This chapter is very Ino-centric, pretty much showing Ino's side of the story when it comes to the reveal a little bit, I was a little nervous it'd come out boring but I'm pretty pleased as of now.

I was a little afraid to implement Hauli, I knew the manager would play an important role in the grand scheme of things, but I wasn't sure whether to keep them nameless or characterize them completely. I haven't really ever been the best with OCs. As I wrote this keeping her nameless and just kinda in the background of everything with no discernible face or personality other than being strict towards Ino I found myself bored whenever they'd come into play which resulted in her creation.

I had a friend mispronounce her name when I showed them this, so I'm just going to clarify now: 'Hall' 'E', pretty much pronounced like the name "Holly," which I originally planned to spell it as but decided compared to names like Naruto, Ino and Sakura, Holly would be very out of place, so now it's fancy. Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review and tell me your thoughts! Appreciate it!


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